A.M. Executive Briefing - Jan. 18
This Morning's Headlines:
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Mexico Halts Plans to Widen Highway
Mexican budget reductions have killed the planned widening of a two-lane highway between Nuevo Laredo and the Colombia Bridge over the Rio Grande. Roughly a tenth of the country's international trade passed through that highway in 1999. For many shippers, the quick U.S. Customs clearance due to the X-ray machines at the bridge make up for the 40-mile detour from the main Monterrey-Laredo highway.
Trucking Company Expands
Covenant Transport is building a $10 million, 100,000-square-foot addition to its Chattanooga, Tenn., headquarters, with 600 employees to be added to the payroll by the end of 2005. The addition is set to be finished in December. MSNBC Online (01/17/00)Hino Motors Eyes Tie-Up With U.S. Truck Maker
Officials of Japan's Hino Motors said Monday that it is in partnership talks with an U.S. truck manufacturer, which they did not identify. Hino wants to supply the U.S. company with diesel engines, probably for medium trucks. A Hino executive said the company hopes to extend the partnership further after that. Jiji Press Ticker Service (01/17/00)Legislation Would Toughen Laws on Transporting Guns
Requiring parcel carriers to track gun shipments is among the gun transportation proposals from Rep. Rod Blagojevich (D-Ill.), announced Sunday at a Chicago news conference.The congressman's federal legislative proposals would also mandate theft-proof shipping containers for guns and extend the maximum penalty for robbing interstate gun carriers to 20 years from the current 10 years. In addition, gun thefts would have to be reported to authorities at the federal, state, and local level in 48 hours or less, and civil penalties would be created to enforce this requirement. Associated Press (01/17/00)
Renault Declines to Comment on Daewoo Truck Unit Report
A spokesman for Renault would not comment on a Monday morning Yonhap news agency report that the French company is looking to acquire Daewoo Motor's truck unit. The spokesman said "this kind of rumor ... is rife in the automobile world." In December, Renault Vehicules Industriels Chairman Patrick Faure said RVI was "in talks" with Daewoo and fellow South Korean company Samsung. AFX - Asia (01/17/00)Rigged for Disaster
An investigation into commercial drivers' fitness regulations by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette turned up several flaws. The rules permitting "any licensed medical examiner" to give physicals to truckers does not ensure that the examiner is aware of the rules for commercial drivers. According to specialists, a number of these examiners do not know the rules, which have allowed truckers with vision, blood-pressure, and heart problems – and one with an artificial leg – to be passed.When examiners judge the driver unfit, they do not have a way to report the finding to federal officials, so drivers can keep going to different examiners seeking certification. Former National Transportation Safety Board Chairman James Kolstad called this "a loophole in the licensing process." It is also tough for authorities to tell if drivers have forged certifications.
When Kolstad was chairman, the NTSB studied fatal crashes in eight states and discovered that one in ten truckers killed in the accident had health problems contributing to the crash. Of these problems, close to 90% had to do with the heart.
The medical certification process will enter the spotlight this week at the NTSB's public hearing into the May 1999 crash of a tour bus whose driver had been passed by a doctor even though he had congestive heart failure and other problems.
A committee put together by the Federal Highway Administration studied various trucker fitness proposals in 1996 and 1997 but was unable to reach a consensus, and the proposals have not yet made it into the Federal Register. Committee member Dr. Natalie Hartenbaum blamed this on too many competing special interests in the committee. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Online (01/16/00); Twedt, Steve
Wreck Means One Lane of I-40 Will Be Closed for Part of This Week
A westbound Interstate 40 bridge in Greensboro, N.C., has been reduced to one lane due to repairs after a Waste Industries truck hit the overpass Saturday morning. The bridge is near N.C. 68. Part of Regional Road was also shut down for the repairs, which are to be completed Tuesday or Wednesday. Associated Press (01/16/00)© copyright 2000 INFORMATION, INC. Terms of Service
